How Will the Abnormal Weather Affect the Golf Course?

The weather pattern sure has been crazy, with some of the warmest conditions through the end of the year I have ever seen.  Usually I have observed the grass stops growing completely about a week after the time change in November.  This year, we are still observing some top growth!  The danger from my standpoint is if you continue to mow greens regularly and it turns cold, you lose some of your protection to foot traffic and those mower wounds use up energy from the roots to "harden off" again.  The process of hardening off can be seen on the greens now.  They have a bronze cast to them and some of the bentgrasses turn purple.  With the freezing and thawing of the ground, we are substituting rolling weekly to keep the greens smooth. 

A plus of the nice weather is the season for growing roots has been extended and this could help out next summer.  The nice weather has also allowed for a lot of on course work to be completed.  More about that in another post.  A couple minuses are traffic and wear damage occurs when the grass on the fairways and rough arent growing, so the plants have little defense against the extra traffic.  Another negative has been some of the wierd late season disease activity.  The above picture is of some stubborn Waitea Patch on the Chipping Green.  I had this analyzed by a plant pathologist to confirm this pathogen.  Generally Waitea this time of the year appears to be cosmetic and seems tostop when temperatures become cold.

Long term weather outlook is all over the place.  I hope this gives some insight as to my recent observations.